TRIPLE GOLD FOR IRELAND:
Ireland won three gold medals at the World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin yesterday courtesy of Jason Smyth, Orla Barry (top) and Greta Streimikyte
AFTER all these years he’s still the fastest, and by some distance. Ireland’s Jason Smyth maintained his stranglehold on success in Para-Athletics sprint events with a supreme display at the IPC European Championships in Berlin yesterday, the 31-yearold blitzing his rivals to win the T13 200m in 21.44.
That was a championship record, dipping well below the previous mark of 21.84 the partially sighted runner had clocked to win the Europeans in Finland 13 years ago.
From the gun, the Derry erry man (right) shot to the front of the field, eating up the ground on chief rival Mateusz Michalski of Poland in the lane outside him, who came home second in 21.87. It was Smyth’s fastest wind-legal time since 2013, and continued his undefeated streak in major championships which now stretches to 17 events.
While he is the fastest Paralympian in history – and a five-time Paralympic gold medallist – Smyth believes he can still run quicker, and he will get the chance to do so in tomorrow’s T13 100m final where he will chase his 18th gold medal in a Para-athletics sprint event.
At 31, and with two years until Tokyo 2020, he’s also adamant that he’s in it for the long haul.
“This year a lot of my strength and foundation work has come back,”, he said. “I’ve seen the sport chchange a lot and it’s still very important to do well in majorm championships. I tthink I can run faster in the next two years.”
It capped a great day fofor the 10-strong Irish teteam in Berlin, with 202016 Paralympian Greta StreStreimiky te producing a stunningstunni performance to win gold in the T13 1,500m, the 22-year-old clocking 4:48.54 to win with considerable ease from Spain’s Izaskun Ayucar (4:59.31) .
Elsewhere, Orla Barry retained her title in the T57 discus, the Cork thrower backing up her Paralympic bronze and silver medals with her fourth European gold, the 28-year-old’s best throw of 28.76m leaving Martina Willing of Germany a distant second.